DEARBORN, MI- Ford Motor Co. and its philanthropic arm recently marked the 10th anniversary of their “Driving Skills for Life” program aimed at educating teens about safe driving.

The program was started May 8, 2003 by the Ford Motor Co. Fund in partnership with the Governors Highway Safety Association to curb teen fatalities on roadways -- the number one cause of teen deaths. Since then, the program has expanded from one or two hands-on programs with high school students a year to about 200 high schools across the U.S. this year

Ford Fund Community Relations Manager Jim Graham, who has been with the program since its inception, said FDSL continues to grow domestically, as well as globally.

“Each year, we try to tweak it to make it a little bit better and get as many people trained as we can.” he said Tuesday night, following a media event announcing results of a new survey about teen driving habits and perceptions. “We’ve managed to spread our program around a lot more. We’ve added additional dollars each year, the program’s growing greatly and I’ve also seen a lot of good success with young people.”

More than 550,000 new drivers globally have utilized DSFL’s online and professional hands-on driver instruction, according to the Dearborn-based automaker.

During FDSL's hands-on activities, officials travel to the high school to run them through controlled distracted driving and educational courses and classes. Using professional drivers as instructors, students go through the multifaceted activities that build skills in four key areas: driver distraction, speed/space management, vehicle handling and hazard recognition.

Mike Speck, one instructor, said the course may not impact every teen, but he feels it reaches the majority.

“Teens are like adults, you’re going to get through to some; you’re not going to get through to others” he said. “Do we think we get through the majority/ Yes we do. We feel we have some type of impact.”

Graham said the program’s budget has doubled since its inception to about $4 million this year. It has allowed the organization to not just expand its hands-on activities, but its reach online.

Ford DSFL has an extensive, yet fun, website that also continues to grow. In August, Ford DSFL is launching an enhanced version of the interactive Web-based training called “The Academy” on its website www.drivingskillsforlife.com. It will make use of social media more and interactive Web-based tools, according to officials.

Graham said the enhanced website should help the program continue to expand, particularly with the addition of videos of the hands-on programs.

“I don’t want anybody to think one program is going to be a perfect driver,” he said. “I like to say learning to drive successfully is a life-long learning process, and this is a step beyond driver’s education.”

Worldwide, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Over 50 per cent of the deaths are among the age group 15-44 years, according to Ford.

Internationally, the program is available to licensed drivers of all ages. The program is nearly a dozen markets, including China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and South Africa. Graham said the company is currently working on expanding in Europe, possibly Brazil, and other regions.

Some areas, Graham said, started their own programs three to four years ago, and now the Ford Fund has a separate plan and budget to continue that growth.

“It’s going to grow a lot more aggressively,” he said.

The needs of drivers and the local driving environment, according to Graham are addressed during the training in each market, according to Graham.